TEACHING WRITING ACROSS GRADE LEVELS -- JIGSAW ACTIVITY
DIRECTIONS & YOUR RESPONSIBILITY:
Now that you've highlighted your grade level chapter, work with your jigsaw group featuring members who read Interactive Writing, Awell, and Urbanski and present the most salient parts of your chapter briefly and then generate answers to the questions below. You can also consider any of the videos from the Writing Workshop wiki page as one of your texts for consideration as well. See what you are able to identify in common with your reading and what might stand out as well.
You may work collaboratively on your Google Doc and then choose an archivist from your group to post your ideas directly on your wiki page below. Your ideas should be posted during Class 6 when we will share and discuss them together.
1) What are you learning new about approaches to teaching writing and also writing workshop (especially in terms of how it is different than the on your cluster, grade level, department, or school employs now and/or the chapter that your grade level group read about)?
Free writing and daybooks
Nicole: 1. Interactive writing- students and teachers should share the pen 2. the use of modeling 3. the importance of students sharing their writing Jing: 1. Beginning the class with daily poem 2. Homework policy 3. Icebreaking game to let the students get to know each other and the organization of the classroom and the class. Ina: From my personal observation, I am not sure that my school currently uses writing workshop at all - so I think that my plan would be to implement it as soon as i get there! I like how the students get to confer together and peer edit. Shuhui: 1. The emphasis of writing should be shifted from final product to the writing process in high school level. 2. The approaches to teach writing in high school level pay more attention to students’ self-discovery, self-expression and self-exploration.
3. The first step to teach writing is to become a writer first. Only the teachers are well familiar with the writing process, they can experience the students’ feelings exactly. 4. Teachers also need to pay attention to create a free and relaxed environment for high school students to seek their creative ideas and thoughts.
2) How do the approaches to teaching writing and implementing writing workshop presented in the texts compare and contrast?
modeling across grade levels
more student/teacher collaboration for younger kids and more detailed instructions for older students to work independently
older students can do much more independent projects
younger kids “share the pen” with the teacher
Interactive writing begins with conversation between students and teacher
high schoolers freewriting and find their own source (teacher as writer first)
revising and editing becomes more elaborate as students go on.
Nicole: In terms of the elementary level, teacher and students are encouraged to allow students to choose their own topic of interest. Students should be engaged in the writing process. Even as a first grade teacher, all of my students take each piece of writing through the writing process. I stress how important prewriting is and students should come back to it as needed. In the early grades teachers model the process and day by day the students continue through the steps. Students have time to watch and participate in the teacher lead model, write on their own thoughout the writing process, and share their writing. Jing: Compared with elementary and high school, middle schoolers seem to be at a stage where a lot of information is provided and plenty of practices with instructions are required. The approaches at this stage seem to be relatively more complicated and detailed than the other two stages. Ina: One favors a more traditional model and one is utilizing all the new techniques. I am a little concerned that it has been 30 years since the idea of using writing workshops has been around yet a lot of teachers do not seem to be using it. Shuhui: Compared with other stages, writing approaches in high school level focus more on the process of writing as writers. Personal needs, ideas, feelings and experiences are stressed. Students should be motivated to write through their inner needs rather than teachers’ instruction. Thus, high school teachers are suggested to use free writing strategy to develop the students as writers.
3) What questions do you have as a teacher who will be expected to implement one or more of these approaches and the related strategies associated with them?
Question from middle level: Will the training for students to be organized confine students’ thinking or mindset? / Should/Can all students be trained to be so organized?
Question from high level: The author stresses that free writing is helpful to create a safe and comfortable environment to find their creative thoughts without judgment by a red pen, but I suppose writing skills and grammar also of great importance of writing. Without teachers’ instruction, how do students correct their mistakes effectively.
Question from elementary level: Elementary teachers teach all subjects. Writing is integrated throughout all subjects, but it is still taught separately as it’s own subject. Interactive writing is very important and should be used everyday, however, how much time should be dedicated to interactive writing vs independent writing?
Jing: Is it necessary to teach about the genre of free-verse poem before we ask students to write one? Or should we just provide modeling?
Ina: Are there NWP workshops near us each year or would we have to travel to take part in these?
Shuhui: From the article, I learnt a lot about the advantages of focusing on the process of writing and I also knew that this process takes longer. Based on my own writing experience, it is unrealistic to take a long time to focus on the process in China, Students in high schools are asked to finish an assignment in a short time. If the time is limited, what a writing teacher should do to develop students’ writing. Nicole: Along the same lines as Shuhui, I think across grade levels teachers find it hard to incorporate the whole writing process in a short amount of time. In the elementary grades, 1 assignment might take 2-3 weeks to fully go through the writing process. My concern is how to balance both the writing process and interactive writing in a short amount of time.
4) What questions might you have as a parent of a child who will be in these types of writing classrooms? How will you respond to these questions as a teacher of writing?
What can I do at home to help my child with his/her writing practice? (middle)
Nicole: How much time is my child getting as far as individual help?
Jing: What should the parents do to the homework policy?
Ina: I think that parents at our school’s main concern is how much individual help is their child getting - regardless of the subject matter. They pay tuition and feel that that gives them the right in some cases to tell the teacher what and how to teach. Unfortunately, I have personally experienced that and it is a slippery slope!!
Shuhui: What roles should parents play in students’ free writing process or the process of developing their children as writers?
TEACHING WRITING ACROSS GRADE LEVELS -- JIGSAW ACTIVITY
DIRECTIONS & YOUR RESPONSIBILITY:
Now that you've highlighted your grade level chapter, work with your jigsaw group featuring members who read Interactive Writing, Awell, and Urbanski and present the most salient parts of your chapter briefly and then generate answers to the questions below. You can also consider any of the videos from the Writing Workshop wiki page as one of your texts for consideration as well. See what you are able to identify in common with your reading and what might stand out as well.You may work collaboratively on your Google Doc and then choose an archivist from your group to post your ideas directly on your wiki page below. Your ideas should be posted during Class 6 when we will share and discuss them together.
1) What are you learning new about approaches to teaching writing and also writing workshop (especially in terms of how it is different than the on your cluster, grade level, department, or school employs now and/or the chapter that your grade level group read about)?
- Free writing and daybooks
Nicole: 1. Interactive writing- students and teachers should share the pen2. the use of modeling
3. the importance of students sharing their writing
Jing: 1. Beginning the class with daily poem
2. Homework policy
3. Icebreaking game to let the students get to know each other and the organization of the classroom and the class.
Ina: From my personal observation, I am not sure that my school currently uses writing workshop at all - so I think that my plan would be to implement it as soon as i get there! I like how the students get to confer together and peer edit.
Shuhui: 1. The emphasis of writing should be shifted from final product to the writing process in high school level.
2. The approaches to teach writing in high school level pay more attention to students’ self-discovery, self-expression and self-exploration.
3. The first step to teach writing is to become a writer first. Only the teachers are well familiar with the writing process, they can experience the students’ feelings exactly.
4. Teachers also need to pay attention to create a free and relaxed environment for high school students to seek their creative ideas and thoughts.
2) How do the approaches to teaching writing and implementing writing workshop presented in the texts compare and contrast?
- modeling across grade levels
- more student/teacher collaboration for younger kids and more detailed instructions for older students to work independently
- older students can do much more independent projects
- younger kids “share the pen” with the teacher
- Interactive writing begins with conversation between students and teacher
- high schoolers freewriting and find their own source (teacher as writer first)
- revising and editing becomes more elaborate as students go on.
Nicole: In terms of the elementary level, teacher and students are encouraged to allow students to choose their own topic of interest. Students should be engaged in the writing process. Even as a first grade teacher, all of my students take each piece of writing through the writing process. I stress how important prewriting is and students should come back to it as needed. In the early grades teachers model the process and day by day the students continue through the steps. Students have time to watch and participate in the teacher lead model, write on their own thoughout the writing process, and share their writing.Jing: Compared with elementary and high school, middle schoolers seem to be at a stage where a lot of information is provided and plenty of practices with instructions are required. The approaches at this stage seem to be relatively more complicated and detailed than the other two stages.
Ina: One favors a more traditional model and one is utilizing all the new techniques. I am a little concerned that it has been 30 years since the idea of using writing workshops has been around yet a lot of teachers do not seem to be using it.
Shuhui: Compared with other stages, writing approaches in high school level focus more on the process of writing as writers. Personal needs, ideas, feelings and experiences are stressed. Students should be motivated to write through their inner needs rather than teachers’ instruction. Thus, high school teachers are suggested to use free writing strategy to develop the students as writers.
3) What questions do you have as a teacher who will be expected to implement one or more of these approaches and the related strategies associated with them?
- Question from middle level: Will the training for students to be organized confine students’ thinking or mindset? / Should/Can all students be trained to be so organized?
- Question from high level: The author stresses that free writing is helpful to create a safe and comfortable environment to find their creative thoughts without judgment by a red pen, but I suppose writing skills and grammar also of great importance of writing. Without teachers’ instruction, how do students correct their mistakes effectively.
- Question from elementary level: Elementary teachers teach all subjects. Writing is integrated throughout all subjects, but it is still taught separately as it’s own subject. Interactive writing is very important and should be used everyday, however, how much time should be dedicated to interactive writing vs independent writing?
Jing: Is it necessary to teach about the genre of free-verse poem before we ask students to write one? Or should we just provide modeling?Ina: Are there NWP workshops near us each year or would we have to travel to take part in these?
Shuhui: From the article, I learnt a lot about the advantages of focusing on the process of writing and I also knew that this process takes longer. Based on my own writing experience, it is unrealistic to take a long time to focus on the process in China, Students in high schools are asked to finish an assignment in a short time. If the time is limited, what a writing teacher should do to develop students’ writing.Nicole: Along the same lines as Shuhui, I think across grade levels teachers find it hard to incorporate the whole writing process in a short amount of time. In the elementary grades, 1 assignment might take 2-3 weeks to fully go through the writing process. My concern is how to balance both the writing process and interactive writing in a short amount of time.
4) What questions might you have as a parent of a child who will be in these types of writing classrooms? How will you respond to these questions as a teacher of writing?
Nicole: How much time is my child getting as far as individual help?
Jing: What should the parents do to the homework policy?
Ina: I think that parents at our school’s main concern is how much individual help is their child getting - regardless of the subject matter. They pay tuition and feel that that gives them the right in some cases to tell the teacher what and how to teach. Unfortunately, I have personally experienced that and it is a slippery slope!!
Shuhui: What roles should parents play in students’ free writing process or the process of developing their children as writers?